Amelia Pond is grown up. She wears reading glasses now and has lines around her eyes. At one point during the episode, River warns her not the let the Doctor see her age. Amy takes this to heart and takes action so the Doctor, and audience, will never see her grow old.

But first, it’s 2012 and the Doctor, Amy and Rory are in Central Park.

Rory goes off for coffee while the Doctor reads aloud to Amy from a detective novel by Melody Malone. He rips out the last page, though, because he hates endings.

Rory couldn’t find a coffee cart for some reason and is walking ten blocks with three lattes. He passes a fountain with cherubs and hears giggling.

Across the park, the Doctor freezes. Amy asks what’s wrong. The Doctor continues reading as Rory and River Song appear in the text of the novel.

Suddenly it’s night where Rory is. River is there, too, but a man calls her Melody Malone, like the character from the book. He takes father and daughter prisoner in 1938 while the Doctor and Amy try to find them from 2012.

Amy begins reading ahead in the book, telling the Doctor he’s going to break something. He gets upset, telling her that once something is read about the future, it’s written in stone. The Tardis dematerializes and we see a grave marked with the name Rory Arthur Williams. I see what you did there, Moffat.

The Doctor and Amy arrive in 1938 after some trouble getting through.

River’s wrist is being held by an Angel. The Doctor realizes he will have to break River’s wrist to free it from the stone grip, fulfilling the story Amy read earlier.

Amy still wants to read ahead in the book to see if they can find Rory. The Doctor reads the chapter titles and they find out he’s in the basement.

In the basement, Rory is trapped with more Weeping Cherubs and a box of matches. Every time the flame goes out, we hear the pitter-patter of toddlers running. It’s wonderfully frightening. By the time Amy gets there, Rory is gone.

The Doctor continues looking at the chapter titles and sees the last

two: “Death at Winter Quay” and “Amelia’s Last Farewell.” Upset, he leaves River, telling her to get free without breaking her wrist.

River finally joins Amy and the Doctor in the foyer and he’s overjoyed she was able to changed things. The Doctor grabs her hand and she cries out in pain. Realizing she didn’t change the future, the Doctor has a sentimental moment with her as he heals her wrist with his regeneration energy. She tests the wrist out by slapping him, saying it was stupid to waste the regeneration energy on her. Oh, River.

Never change.

They find Rory at the nearby Winter Quay building, which is filled with Angels. They enter an apartment and Amy walks back. There is an old man in bed and he’s glad to see her. She realizes he’s an older version of Rory. They have a tender Sally Sparrow/Billy moment before he dies.

The Doctor says Rory will now go back in time, but Rory asks what happens if he doesn’t. River realizes this will make a paradox and save them. The Doctor doesn’t know how they’ll have the power to do it, but Amy is determined.

Amy and Rory run toward the roof, where they are cornered by the Statue of Liberty with the face of a Weeping Angel.

Trapped, Rory decides to jump from the roof. If he creates a paradox, then he won’t die, he reasons. Amy agrees and plans to jump with him.

The Doctor and River run to the roof just as Amy and Rory stand on the edge. The music swells and they jump, grabbing each other closer as they fall.

Suddenly they sit up. They are in the graveyard from earlier with The Doctor and River. Amy and Rory walk toward the Tardis but he suddenly stops. He tells Amy there’s a grave with his name on it. Then he’s gone. There is a lone Angel standing where he stood.

There is room for a second name on the gravestone. Amy asks the Doctor if the Angel would send her to the same time as Rory. River is all for her trying. The Doctor, shaken, tells her he doesn’t know and with the way time travel works, he’d never be able to see her again.

Amy gives a quick farewell to her daughter and then her raggedy man, begging him to never travel alone, before blinking. She’s gone.

Her name appears below Rory’s on the grave.

River tells the Doctor she will send the book to Amy to get published.

She says she’ll ask Amy to write the afterward for the book. He suddenly remembers the last page, left in the park.

He runs to the picnic spot while Amy’s voiceover narrates her final words to him. She lived well. She loved Rory.

She asks him to go back and find the girl who waited all night in her garden for the Doctor to return. She asks him to tell her about all the wonderful adventures she will have, with pirates, space whales and painters.

The scene cuts to young Amelia Pond, dragging her suitcase out into the yard. She sits on it and as the sun rises we hear the Tardis engines. A bright grin crosses her face.

Amelia Pond will never grow up.

What did you think of this week’s episode? Will you ever be able to watch “The Eleventh Hour” again without sobbing? Leave your thoughts in the comments.

About Speakeasy

Speakeasy is a blog covering media, entertainment, celebrity and the arts. The publication is produced by Barbara Chai and Jonathan Welsh with contributions from the Wall Street Journal staff and others. Write to us at speakeasy@wsj.com or follow us on Twitter at @WSJSpeakeasy or individually @barbarachai.